If Sitting Is the New Smoking, What Does This Mean for Employers? : A Look at Potential Workers' Compensation Claims in the Sedentary Workplace

With life in the United States becoming more sedentary each day, the question arises as to what harm we are doing to our bodies when we sit at work for eight hours. As many studies have shown, sitting for prolonged periods of time is quite deleterious to our health. This Article addresses the question of whether injuries or diseases that can be tied to a sedentary workplace could be compensable under the workers' compensation scheme available in some form in all fifty states. The authors then analyze whether, if such harms are covered under workers' compensation, they should be compensable. That is, from a policy perspective, does it make sense to hold employers liable for such harms